Improvement in trunk-fastenings



QFFICE.

ALEXANDER FRANKEL, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY LAGOWITZ, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN TRUNK-FASTENINGS.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent N o. 195,117, dated September 11, 1877;' application filed August 14, 1877.

To all whom it may conce/rn:

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER FRANKEL, of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain Improvements in Trunk-Fastening, of which the following is a specification:

My invention relates to that class of trunkfasteningsv in which a spring-hasp attached to the lid or cover is arranged to engage over a stud or lip on a socket-piece secured to the body of the trunk; and the improvement c011- sists in the use of a slideshaving an inclined or beveled face, arranged to move under and release the hasp from the stud, as hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a face view of my improved device closed and locked Fig. 2, a vertical section of the same with the parts in the same position; Fig. 3, a similar section, with the slide elevated and the hasp released; and Fig. 4, a vertical section, with the hasp raised out of the socket and the slide dropped down.

The object of this invention is to produce a simple and cheap fastening for trunks and similar receptacles, which shall not be liable to become accidentally unfastened, but which may be readily released by the fingers, and held in such released position until the lid or cover is raised.

To this end I construct the fastening as represented in the drawings, in which A is a spring-hasp, which may either be secured to the trunk-lid direct or mounted in a case or cover, d, attached to the lid, as shown in the drawing.

The body of the trunk is provided with a socket, B, to receive the hasp A, said socket being located directly in line with the hasp, and provided with an internal Alip or stud, a, having an inclined face, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. The hasp is provided near its lower end with an opening, as shown, to receive the stud or lip a, as shown in Fig. 2.

It will thus be seen that, as the trunk lid or cover descends, the hasp A enters the socket B, its lower end striking upon the face of the lip or stud a., and being thereby thrown outward until the opening in the hasp comes opposite to the stud a, when the hasp springs down and engages over or around the same.

C represents a vertically-moving slide, the upper end of which is made beveling or inclined, and is cut away at the point opposite or in line with the stud a, in order that it may straddle the same when the slide is moved upward. The lower end of the hasp A is slightly bent outward, and the upper end of the slide G is arranged to move under and throw out the hasp A, as shown in Fig. 3. While in this position the slide C is held up by the pressure of the spring-hasp against its weight after the fingers are removed from the slide C, leaving the hands free to elevate the lid, and avoiding all danger of the fastening becoming locked when the hands are removed therefrom for that purpose. When the lid is elevated the hasp A moves out of its socket B, and, riding off the slide C, leaves the same free to drop down, as seen in Fig. 4, so that.

when the lid is again lowered the haspkshall be free to engage with the stud a.

In the drawings I have represented the hasp as attached to a case or cover, d, which is in turn secured to the trunk-lid, though it is obvious that the case or cover may be dispensed with and the hasp secured to the lid direct. rIhe form shown is, however, considered preferable, as it presents a neater appearance, and serves, when the lid is down, to cover the mouth of the socket B, and prevent the entrance of dirt and rain, without materially enhancing the cost of the article.

The device is constructed chiefly of cast or malleable iron, and is very simple, cheap, and strong.

It is obvious that the arrangement of the parts may be considerably modified without departing from my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim isl. A trunk-fastening consisting of a springhasp, a socket or catch to interlock therewith, and a sliding thumb-piece to release the hasp, substantially as shown.

, ASSIGNOR TO JACOB 2. In a trunk-fastening, a spring-hasp, A, the automatic relooking of the hasp when the and a catch or socket, B, adapted to interlock truuk is closed.

therewith in combination with a verticallymoving unlocking-slide, C, arranged to move ALEXANDER FRANKEL upward under the end of the hasp, and be re- Witnesses:

tained by the pressure thereof until the tru nk JOHN P. J AOKSON,

is opened, and then fall by gravity to permit ARTHUR R. DENMAN. 

